Ferrari's Felipe Massa is going to need to find some speed if wants to beat the McLaren of standings leader Lewis Hamilton in Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix and improve his chances of winning the 2008 title.
Hamilton dominated both practice sessions on Friday while Massa, who is five points behind the McLaren driver with two races left in the season, was second in the morning run and only sixth in the afternoon.
Massa's teammate and reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen was third in the first session and eighth in the second.
Looking at the results of the first day, Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said '' We played our part, but I have to say that our main rivals seem to be pretty much on the ball. Now we need to be as well prepared as possible for tomorrow's qualifying, which as usual will be crucial''.
Massa remained optimistic and said ''I think we will be competitive. In the first session, the car was a bit twitchy but then, especially in the second part of the afternoon session, its handling improved. I think we are working in the right direction in terms of car set-up''.
There will be a third practice session Saturday morning before qualifying takes place in the afternoon
